Irish Regiments of the Indian Mutiny

The history and foundation of this old and famous Regiment is bound up and found in India. The two Regiments which in 1881 were to become the 1st and 2nd Battalions The Royal Dublin Fusiliers, can proudly trace their individual and unique histories back as far as 1661 ( The 2nd Battalion ) and 1741- the 1st Battalion. The Regiment would be awarded a total of Seven Victoria Crosses during its long and proud service. Both were built up as East India Company Battalions, and lThe European regiments of the East India Company formed the elite of the Company’s forces; taken into the British army after the Mutiny, the regiment illustrated ultimately became the 1^st Bn Royal Dublin Fusiliers. The regiment wore a uniform like that of current British regulations, with facings successively French grey, white, and on becoming Fusiliers in 1843, dark blue. Another distinguishing feature peculiar to the regiment was the red ball-tuft on the shako. The figure illustrated , however (based on a sketch by Captain Ryves) shows the modified uniform worn on campaign, the shako being enclosed in a white linen cover, the tail-less undress jacket worn with collar turned down (note the unusual blue wings bearing white grenade badge), and the issue boots replaced by more comfortable, light native sandals. Capt. Ryves showed the troops carrying their leather stocks on the end of their muskets! The same artist portrayed the drum-major wearing a fur fusilier cap with white plume, gold lace and epaulettes on the jacket, and the more usual white trousers. The fact that the subject of Capt. Ryves’ picture was shown fording a stream explains the rolled-up trousers and bare feet!
 ater as numbered regiments of the British Line.
One to serve its early years as Madras Europeans and the other as Bombay Europeans. The Madras Europeans were formed about 1748 and claim to have taken part in 72 battles against native forces and the French by 1758.By 1760 it was increased to a three battlion regiment and a 4th Battalion was added in 1774. In the sixteen years between 1758 and 1774 it had fought further actions and was engaged at Goojerat in 1780 and received the ' Royal Tiger ' badge in 1791. By 1841 other engagements had been fought and won, and the motto ' Spectamur Agendo ' - ' We are judged by our deeds ' was granted. Up to about 1830 the regiment was known as the Honourable East India Company's European Regiment, when ' Madras ' was added to the title and in 1839 it then became the 1st Madras European Regiment, the addition of ' Fusiliers ' was added in 1843, and then finally it was called the 1st Madras Fusiliers. In 1860-1861 it became a numbered regiment of the Crown, and was then known as the 102nd ( Royal Madras ) Fusiliers.Four previous regiments had carried the number 102 during the period 1760 to 1818, but only one of them was Irish, a corps that existed between 1793 and 1794 and was known as The 102nd ( Irish ) Regiment of Foot. The 102nd ( Royal Madras ) Fusiliers were in India just after the Mutiny broke out at Delhi and Meerut, and was engaged at Benares and Allahabad in May and June 1857 and in September in the desperate fighting for the relief of Lucknow. It was during this campaign and the bitter fighting that the Regiment earned its famous nickname  ' Neill's Blue Caps ' relating to the warning given by the rebel leader Nana Sahib to his men, in that they should ' kill all the men in blue caps and dirty shirts ' a compliment to the Madras and Bengal Fusiliers whose fighting reputations were renowned and feared throughout India. Neill, the gallant Colonel of the Fusiliers, was killed at Lucknow. He not only left his name to the Regiment, but was also an historian who recorded the complex history of the corps. It was during the Indian Mutiny that four members of the Regiments were awarded the Victoria Cross for gallantry. Three of the recipients were Irish. These were Sergeant Patrick Mahoney,Private John Ryan, Private Thomas Duffy and Private John Smith. The Battle-Honours earned by the Regiment up to the Mutiny were: Arcot, Plassey, Wyndewash, Condore, Sholinghur, Amboyna, Ternate, Banda, Pondicherry, Mahipoor, Ava, Pegu, Lucknow. In the reorganisation of 1860-1861, the 1st Madras Fusiliers were designated the 102nd ( Royal Madras Fusiliers ) and were therefore no longer a company Regiment.Patrick Mahoney was born in Waterford, Ireland. He was 30 years old and a Sergeant in the 1st Madras European Fusiliers, during the Indian Mutiny when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross:

On the 21st September 1857 - Whilst on cavalry duty at Mungulwar, near Cawnpore, he was prominent in capturing the colours of the 1st Regiment of Native Infantry who had mutinied.

He was killed in action at Kucknow, India, on the 30th October 1857.

irish v.c 1857

Robert Hawthorne was born in the village of Maghera, in County Londonderry, although his birthplace was mistakenly called ‘Moghera’ in the Historical Record of the 52nd.tedtoy

He won the Victoria Cross during the Indian Mutiny, which broke out in 1857 following a rumour that greased cartridges used by the army were smeared with the fat of sacred cows and “unclean” pigs – thereby alienating the Hindu and Moslem sepoys and uniting them against the British.

The rising was followed by hideous cruelty - the European officers being treacherously shot, while hundreds of women and children were ruthlessly massacred. Delhi soon fell into the hands of the insurgents, while Lucknow and Cawnpore were besieged.

The 52nd Light Infantry, which had been one of the few regular units in India at the start of the Mutiny, was heavily-involved in the suppression of the mutineers – the re-capture of Delhi being one of the most famous episodes in that conflict.

The assault began on 14th September 1857 with the blowing-up of the Kashmir gate by an advanced explosives party comprising Lieutenant Philip Salkeld, Lieutenant Duncan Charles Home, Sergeant John Smith and Bugler Robert Hawthorne of the 52nd. Bugler Hawthorne was awarded the VC for conspicuous gallantry for his role in the blowing up of the gate in broad daylight preparatory to the assault, coolly sounding the advance under intense musket fire from the walls as the explosive charges were detonated, and then rescuing Lieutenant Salkeld, who had been badly wounded.

Bugler Hawthorne died in Manchester on 2nd February 1879, his grave being in Ardwick Cemetery. Hawthorne Road in Maghera commemorates the local VC winner – one of no less than 52 Irish VCs in the Indian Mutiny.

Connaught rangers in the Indian Mutiny

After the Crimean War, the 88th returned to Britain, but in response to the Indian Rebellion, the 88th were soon deployed to India.

 The regiment, with a strength of 990 at this time, plus the depot of about 100, embarked during July 1857 in four detachments. It arrived in Calcuttain November.below mutineer miniatures

 By 25 November 1857, 6 companies had reached the front, 4 at Cawnpore and 2 near

 By the end of 1858 the total loss of the 88th in the field during the operations, according to the returns of each engagement, 

amounted to one officer and 16 other ranks killed, and 6 officers and 138 other ranks wounded.below a connaught ranger from us at fixed bayonet

This soldier wears the khaki uniform of European soldiers in India at the time of the Mutiny. A Kilmarnock ‘pork-pie’ cap under the white cotton ‘Havelock’ cover to protect the neck from sunburn. Khaki is a Persian word which means ‘ash’ or ‘dust’, and the colour is often referred to as ‘drab’.

The Connaught Rangers served in India until 1870.

Purchased by the Museum of London the Eastward Ho! painting August 1857, by Henry Nelson O'Neil shows the vivid drama of soldiers boarding a ship at Gravesend. They are leaving to fight in the Indian 'Mutiny' -This was not the  the first Indian war of Independence in 1857 as the Museum of London states in its P.C spill but merely a mutiny.. A companion painting Home Again, 1858 shows the soldiers' return a year later.

The Indian Mutiny was seen as a shocking challenge to British supremacy in India. It generated emotive and patriotic coverage in the press and in works of art. O'Neil's paintings focus on the impact of war at home and captured the public mood. They came to symbolise the effect of the many overseas wars, fought in the name of the Empire, on ordinary British people.

On 16 November 1870 they boarded the troopship HMS Jumna in Bombay, and the passage home began on the following morning (17 November).

 The Connaught Rangers had been 13 years in India. Nine officers, and 407 noncommissioned officers and men, died in India during this period.

Gurkhas.Gem of the crown

The soldiers of the Gurkha regiments come from the Himalayan country of Nepal, situated on the northern edge of the Indian subcontinent. It is roughly rectangular, 540 miles long and 100 miles wide. Within this small area the country contains tropical forest in the low lying area to the south, and some of the highest mountains in the world, including Everest, to the north. Somwhere in between is the capital, Khatmandu on a flat plateau in the foothills. This plateau is regarded by the people of the country as Nepal, everywhere else is Pahar (the hill districts) or Mades (the plains).According to an agreement between the Nepalese and the British, recruitment for the Gurkha regiments is restricted to Pahar where the various tribes inhabit the higher altitudes. The racial origins of the people are diverse. Basically there are Mongolians and Indo-Aryans. The royal family and the majority of the inhabitants of Khatmandu are descended from Thakurs and Rajputs from India while the Gurkha tribes are of Mongolian descent.
The use of the word Gurkha to describe the hill men comes from a place of that name that was ruled, in the mid-18th century by Prithi Narayan Sah. Impressed by the British military conquest of Mogul India, he thought he would try the same against his neighbours. These Gurkhas were quite ruthless and successful so that the expansion of the Gurkha empire carried on after the death of Prithi Narayan Sah until the early 19th century. At this point the British decided to put a stop to the empire-building activities of this truculent people.War was declared in November 1814. A force of 22,000 was sent and the first action was a seige at Kalunga, garrisoned by 600 Gurkhas. The Britsh suffered severe losses including a Major-General and began to wonder how they were ever going to subdue these tough little men. Of all the generals, only one man had the determination to press on, Sir David Ochterlony. He fought several battles against the enemy who were commanded by Umur Sing. On 15th April 1815 a hard fought battle at Deothul peak resulted in the retreat of the Gurkhas. Even after this they refused to surrender and a further campaign in January 1816 had to be waged to final bring an end to the war.The story of Britain's struggle for the control of India has several examples of enemies becoming firm allies. The two most notable being the Sikhs and the Gurkhas. Both very warlike groups and both forming loyal and very effective regiments in the British army. The first three Gurkha regiments were raised in 1815, before the final surrender of the the King of Nepal. In fact, Ochterlony had recommended the recruitment of Gurkhas as early as 1814.


The 'mutiny' was a nation-wide rebellion of Indian troops and civilians against the British. There were many reasons behind this uprising of Indians' against their colonial rulers, but it was directly triggered in February 1857 when Indian 'sepoys' (soldiers) learned that the greasy wrapping paper around the cartridges of their new Enfield rifles was lubricated with a mixture of beef and pork fat. Troops were required to bite off the cartridge paper to load the weapon. Cows being sacred to Hindus and pigs 'haram' (unclean) to Muslims, the discovery of the beef and pork fat in the grease was seen as a sacrilegious insult to sepoys of both faiths. The resulting revolt shook India and the whole British Empire to its foundations. Britain's cruel retribution against the Indians who rose against them is one of the many forgotten shameful chapters in the history of the British Empire.Sirmoor Battalion (later to become the 2nd Gurkha Rifles) proved their courage and loyalty by occupying the most vulnerable position at Hindu Rao’s house, during the Siege of Delhi. They fought for three months, under constant fire from heavy artillery, losing two-thirds of their men. Their courage earned them the gratitude and undying admiration of their fellow British troops. From 1857 onwards Gurkhas were seen not simply as courageous and fearsome soldiers, but as honorary Britons. In 1858, as a mark of respect, the soldiers of the Sirmoor battalion were awarded the designation of ‘riflemen’ – on a par with their British brothers-in-arms, the 60th Rifle
In some cases whole Bengal regiments mutinied, but many remained loyal to the British, including the Gurkhas. In fact two more Gurkha regiments were raised during the course of the mutiny. The mutineers gravitated towards Delhi until 20,000 garrisoned the city. The Sirmoor Battalion, as it was now called, (the number 6 had been dropped in 1850) under it's commanding officer Major Charles Reid, set out from it's base at Dehra Dun. They made forced marches and travelled by boat up the Ganges Canal to Delhi. They stopped to rest at one point and were approached by some Indian sappers who tried to convince the Gurkhas that bullocks bones had been ground up and mixed with their flour. But they jeered at the sappers and enjoyed a hearty meal of chappatis and dhal.

reward

India was to greatly benefit from reforms thayt the British laid down.Following the Indian Mutiny of 1857, Queen Victoria issued a Proclamation by which Company rule over India came to an end and the British Raj was established. The Victorian era was a period of peace and prosperity. The Indian Councils Act 1861 and the Government of India Act 1909 admitted Indians in the provincial administration. There was a rapid increase in the number of educated classes who qualified for the Indian and Provincial Civil Service. The profession of law was especially prized by the newly-emerging class of educated Indians.
 In 1877, T. Muthuswamy Iyer became the first Indian judge of the Madras High Court despite serious opposition. A number of roads, railways, dams and canals were constructed during this time

During this period, Madras was devastated by two great famines: Great Famine of 1876–78 and the Indian famine of 1896–97. The population of the Presidency fell from 31.2 million in 1871 to 30.8 million in 1881 as a result of the 1876-78 famine.

The British government encouraged the setting up of railways by private investors under a scheme that would guarantee an annual return of 5% during the initial years of operation. Once completed, the company would be passed under government ownership, but would be operated by the company that built them.

The East Indian Railway Company’s Chief Engineer George Turnbull built the first railway from Calcutta (the then commercial capital of India). It opened for passenger traffic from Howrah station to Hooghly on 15 August 1854. The 541 miles (871 kilometres) to Benares opened to passenger traffic in December 1862.

Robert Maitland Brereton, a British engineer was responsible for the expansion of the railways from 1857 onwards. In March 1870, he was responsible for the linking of both the rail systems, which by then had a network of 6,400 km (4,000 miles). By 1875, about £95 million were invested by British companies in Indian guaranteed railways.[4]

By 1880 the network had a route mileage of about 14,500 km (9,000 miles), mostly radiating inward from the three major port cities of Bombay, Madras and Calcutta. By 1895, India had started building its own locomotives, and in 1896 sent engineers and locomotives to help build the Ugandan Railways.

In 1900, the GIPR became a government owned company. The network spread to modern day states of Assam, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh and soon various independent kingdoms began to have their own rail systems. In 1901, an early Railway Board was constituted, but the powers were formally invested under Lord Curzon. It served under the Department of Commerce and Industry and had a government railway official serving as chairman, and a railway manager from England and an agent of one of the company railways as the other two members. For the first time in its history, the Railways began to make a profit.

In 1907 almost all the rail companies were taken over by the government. The following year, the first electric locomotive makes its appearance. With the arrival of World War I, the railways were used to meet the needs of the British outside India. With the end of the war, the state of the railways was in disrepair and collapse.

In 1920, with the network having expanded to 61,220 km, a need for central management was mooted by Sir William Acworth. Based on the East India Railway Committee chaired by Acworth, the government takes over the management of the Railways and detaches the finances of the Railways from other governmental revenues.

The period between 1920 to 1929 was a period of economic boom. Following the Great Depression, the company suffered economically for the next eight years. The Second World War severely crippled the railways. Trains were diverted to the Middle East and the railways workshops were converted to munitions workshops. By 1946 all rail systems were taken over by the government.

Ghosts of the Indian mutiny

John Masters, who served in the Indian Army in the 1930s prior to Indian independence, wrote of several ghost sightings in his book Bugles and a Tiger, published in 1956. A friend of his who was serving in the Indian Cavalry was living in the old sturdily built bungalows that had been erected before the Mutiny of 1857. Many such bungalows still existed in places such as Meerut, Delhi and Bareilly.

One June night the friend awoke, finding his room hot and airless; outside it was silent. On the wall above his bed he could see a flickering light which suggested a bonfire burning on the lawn outside; when he got up to look he could see no fire. Despite this he could still see the reflected flames flickering on the wall before they died away. This occurred for four nights running, getting stronger and brighter each time. On the fourth night he left his bungalow and went out on to the veranda. On the lawn he could see two ‘strangely dressed figures’ moving around; he thought they were armed and decided to approach them, but as he did so he discovered there was nothing there.

A historical check of the area found that another bungalow had once stood near his, in the same grounds. On a June night in 1857 two soldiers from the Bengal Native Cavalry had murdered their adjutant and destroyed the other bungalow, burning the bodies of the adjutant, his wife and children. This act had triggered the Mutiny in the area. It appears that the flames he saw reflected on his wall were ghosts of the destruction of the neighbouring bungalow

The Scots in India

In the past, problems between the British Army and  local populations have escalated into terrible bloodshed.  When the Scots played their part in imperial expansion in the Indian subcontinent, events led to the notorious Indian Mutiny of 1857, cultural clashes exacerbating the bloody uprising and Scots forces playing a part in quelling the insurrection.

The army had totally underestimated the extent of simmering bitterness amongst the Indian Sepoy soldiers who felt that their way of life was not being respected.  Resentment against British rule had been building for some time and it finally exploded with devastating consequences in 1857 with the outbreak of the famously bloody Indian Mutiny.  The Indian soldiers attacked both British soldiers and civilians with a large number of women and children being brutally slaughtered.  It was one of the most violent episodes ever in the history of the Empire.

The Scottish Regiments really came to the fore William Macbean enlisted as a young man in the 93rd Sutherland Highlanders, the regiment he remained with until he retired. He spent fifteen or sixteen years in the ranks as a non-commissioned officer. In 1854, while serving in the Crimea, he was raised to the rank of ensign. At Varnia he was in charge of the wounded men when he successfully intervened in a dispute between French and Turkish troops. He was awarded the 'Order of Medjidie' by the Sultan.

during the siege of Lucknow as they attempted to return Indian to British rule. An amazing 34 soldiers from Scottish Regiments won Victoria Crosses during the campaign. One famous recipient of the medal was General Mcbean, 
Macbean served at the siege of Sebastapol. In India he was honoured with the Victoria Cross for his actions at the main breach of the Begum Bagh at Lucknow in 1858, where he single-handedly killed eleven of the enemy. In 1973 he attained the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and on his retirement in 1877 he was accorded the rank of Major General. 

one of Scotland’s great solders. At Lucknow, he killed 11 mutineers with his bare hands and a rusty old knife, with only the last mutineer killed at sword point. When Mcbean was given his award he was congratulated for a good day’s work. His reply? “Tuts, it only took me twenty minutes”.

Scots at War examines the fact that the current conflict is not the first time that British troops have been in Afghanistan.  In the late 19th century, the country was of huge importance strategically as the British were very concerned about the Russians encroaching into their Empire in India.  Afghanistan was seen as a vital buffer zone to keep Russia at bay and the British wanted to make sure that they were in control.

When Afghanistan refused to accept British influence, war was inevitable. The 72nd and 92nd Scottish regiments played a key role in the successful campaign to assert British control here.  But it was their involvement in one of the most celebrated military marches that they would be remembered for. With the war seemingly won, the Highlanders and the rest of the British army were pulling out of Afghanistan when they heard of  a British force west of Kandahar had been wiped out and the city was under siege.

One of the greatest and most successful commanders of the Victorian era, General

sepoys, the scum of the British army.

Soon after dawn on May 11 1857, 150 years ago this week, the Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar was saying his morning prayers in his oratory overlooking the river Jumna when he saw a cloud of dust rising on the far side of the river. Minutes later, he was able to see its cause: 300 East India Company cavalrymen charging wildly towards his palace.

The troops had ridden overnight from Meerut, where they had turned their guns on their British officers, and had come to Delhi to ask the emperor to give his blessing to their mutiny. As a letter sent out by the rebels' leaders subsequently put it: "The English are people who overthrow all religions ... As the English are the common enemy of both [Hindus and Muslims, we] should unite in their slaughter ... By this alone will the lives and faiths of both be saved." But this did not happen , the Indian mutiny remained a smallish affair as most indians stayed out of it.

initially the British recruited sepoys from the local communities in the Madras and Bombay Presidencies, the emphasis being on recruits having adequate physique and being of sufficient caste. In the Bengal Army however, recuitment was only amongst high caste Brahman and Rajput communities of erstwhile Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Recruitment was done locally by battalions or regiments often from the same community, village and even family. The commanding officer of a battalion became a form of substitute for the village chief or "gaon bura". He was the "mai-baap" or the "father and mother" of the sepoys making up the "paltan" (unit). There were many family and community ties amongst the troops and numerous instances where family members enlisted in the same battalion or regiment. The "izzat" or honour of the unit was represented by the regimental colours; the new sepoy having to swear an oath in front of them on enlistment. These colours were stored in honour in the quarter guard and frequently paraded before the men. They formed a rallying point in battle. The oath of fealty by the sepoy was given to the East India Company and included a pledge of faithfulness to the salt that one has eaten.Following the formation of the French East India Company (Compagnie des Indes) in 1719, companies of Indian sepoys (cipayes) were raised to augment the French and Swiss mercenary troops available. By 1720 the sepoys in French service numbered about 10,000.Although much reduced in numbers after their decisive defeat in India at the Battle of Wandewash in 1760, the French continued to maintain a Military Corps of Indian Sepoys (corps militaire des cipayes de l'Inde) in Pondicherry (now Puducherry) until it was disbanded and replaced by a locally recruited gendarmerie in 1898

The sepoys entered Delhi, massacred every Christian man, woman and child they could find and declared the 82-year-old emperor to be their leader. Before long the insurgency had not snowballed into the largest and bloodiest anticolonial revolt against any European empire in the 19th century but had kept itself more or less as a mutiny, it was never a revolution..It is said that the 139,000 sepoys of the Bengal army, all but 7,796 turned against the British but if this is true why didn't they win.. In many places the sepoys were supported by a  civilian rebellion.

The salary of the sepoys employed by the East India Company, while not substantially greater than that paid by the rulers of Indian states, was usually paid regularly. Advances could be given and family allotments from pay due were permitted when the troops served abroad. There was a commisariat and regular rations were provided. Weapons, clothing and ammunition were provided centrally, in contrast to the soldiers of local kings whose pay was often in arrears. In addition local rulers usually expected their sepoys to arm themselves and to sustain themselves through plunder.

This combination of factors led to the development of a sense of shared honour and ethos amongst the well drilled and disciplined Indian soldiery who formed the key to the success of European feats of arms in India and abroad.

Following the Indian Rebellion of 1857 the surviving East India Company regiments were merged into a new Indian Army under the direct control of the British Crown. The designation of "sepoy" was retained for Indian soldiers below the rank of Lance-naik, except in cavalry and rifle regiments where the equivalent ranks were "sowar" or "rifleman".

british cavalry 1857 fromsoldiershop.com in 54mm

Acting on dubious information, that an enemy force of 50 cavalry 500 infantry with one gun, Sir Henry Lawrence assembled an expedition consisting of: 300 of the 32nd Light Infantry, 170 Native Infantry, 36 Volunteer Horse, 84 Oude Irregular Cavalry and eleven guns.  Instead of handing command to Colonel Inglis of the 32nd, Lawrence decided to lead the force himself.  Lawrence was not the man to command, although initially a soldier, he’d spent too much time as an administrator; his soldiering had been done as a subaltern not a field officer. Below Hodsoin horse in 45 mm by Norris The 32nd were without food and there were insufficient water carriers. No reconnaissance had been done and unexpectedly the Lucknow force blundered into the mutineers at the small village of Chinhut.  Here, across the road with a lake on their left flank were 800 cavalry, 5,500 infantry and artillery with 15 guns. Outnumbered by more than ten to one, the native gunners and cavalry deserted, the 32nd who was holding a nearby village was ejected by the enemy and largely because of the heat of the day and lack of food and water failed to retake it.  The rebel commander – Barhat Ahmad – completely out manoeuvred Lawrence, his Horse Artillery, which was on both, flanks threatening to encircle the British whilst his cavalry held the bridge at their rear.The Volunteer Cavalry charged the bridge and broke through followed by the remnants of Lawrence’s force.  Handing over command, somewhat too late, to Colonel Inglis, Lawrence, realising that defeat could trigger an immediate assault on the Residency rode to warn them.justice prevailed against the massacre of women and children by the unsoldiery cowards of the mutineers